Monday, August 26, 2013

Transfers are on
Thursday so we got transfer calls on Friday.It turns out Elder Tall and I are both leaving the area and 2 new elders
will be coming in to replace us.Luckily
Elder Tall and I didn't do anything wrong.There is just a lot of stuff happening in the branch that we know about
that missionaries should not know.We
are leaving to help the branch cool down a little.Luckily we have members working with all our
current investigators so we know they will be well taken care of.Now these next 2 transfers are going to go
even faster with a new zone and new companion.I'm excited to see more of the mission and meet more missionaries.On Saturday we had the privilege to go to
Nauvoo with a recent convert and her non-member son.We didn't go to the temple but we went
through the visitors center and went to a few of the old Nauvoo houses.It was a lot of fun!Then at the end we watch Joseph Smith
Prophet of the Restoration.It was great
and the spirit was strong!One of the
temple sisters talked to the non-member son for a while after and gave him a
BoM to read and told him to read Enos.He read it as soon as he got home and decided that he was going to read
the entire BoM!!!He said to his mom
after they dropped us off that he felt like it was all true!!!So excited to see the progress of others in
the gospel!This recent convert is the
only member in her family and it would be SO great for her to have her son
baptized!I'm bummed that I won't be
here for Quashawn andKrystal but I know
they will be baptized in the future.I
love this work and am so thankful for the comfort the spirit brings!

Monday, August 19, 2013

We had a great
week!We were able to go on 2 exchanges
with some elders.It was a lot of
fun!On Saturday the college here in
town had their move in day and all the Churchs in the area go and help the
people move in.So we went and were
there from 9 till about 2:30.We met a
lot of cool people and found a potential that said he wants to come to church.
Quashawn and Krystal are both doing great.They came to church yesterday and we had a lesson with them this morning
in a members home that went great.They
have been praying about being baptized on September 28th and they said they
feel good about it so far.They are
still worried about getting married but they are doing awesome.I'm super excited to continue to see them
progress.In Ames there was a boy we
were teaching named Austin that was friends with a member family the Greenes.He started emailing me a few weeks ago and
said he has decided to be baptized on September 7th.SO exciting!!He also said he has been thinking a lot about going on a mission.How cool is that!He is such an awesome kid and its so great
to hear that he is doing so well.

We have had a pretty
busy week.We had a meeting an hour and
20 minutes away in Iowa City on Tuesday than a meeting 1 hour and 15 away in
Osceola on Thursday than another meeting 1 hour 15 away in Des Moines on Sunday,
ha ha it was a travel filled week.We
had a zone training meeting on Thursday in Osceola and it was awesome!Such a spirit filled meeting.The trainings were on sanctification and on
helping our investigators feel and recognize the Holy Ghost.It was related to describing and elephant to
someone who has never seen one.We
decided we would just take them to Africa to see one so during the week we have
received word that everyone has been taking their investigators to
"Africa!" ha ha it was awesome!We also had an amazing opportunity to teach a non-member family in a
members home.They invited them over for
dinner along with us and we had a lesson on the BoM and they were reading out
of it and asking questions.It was SO
cool!They will most likely be a slower
process but are such nice people that we are excited to work with them. That
same member family has been trying to share the gospel with SO many different
people all the time it has been great.You will now start to see missionaries in light colored suits and
without back backs.The 1st presidency
has decided that we look to much like the feds and not very approachable.No more backpacks because we look like we are
going hiking in the mountains.We are
now to use side bags or to carry our things in our hands! =) pretty crazy! This
work is changing, change is part of this life.The appearance on the church might change to remain involved in this
ever changing world but one thing is for certain the Gospel standards will
forever be the same.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

We were
able to go to the pageant on Saturday. The last day of it. It was
SO cool! We went with 3 investigators. They all LOVED it! It
was such a cool experience. We went through the visitors center when we
first got there and I got to see Sister Hall. It was SO fun! There
were some members from one of my previous areas that I got to visit with as
well. It was such a great day! We had so much fun and the investigators
were so excited. The spirit is so strong on temple grounds and in Nauvoo.
You can feel the difference when you drive up and see the temple.
Martie, one of our investigators, noticed the different feeling she had
and how happy and comforting it was. She loved the visitors center and
wants to come back when they have more time to go see all the different
buildings and learn more about everything. It was such a fun experience!
We were so blessed to be able to have all of that work out.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

It's been a crazy
few weeks as you can tell as I haven't had time to write a blog post.Last week was interviews and so we got to
spend some time with President Jensen and his wife and get to know them a
little better so that was great.We had
transfers but both my companion andI
stayed.The work here is creeping along
and struggles as we don't have much for member missionary work.They are amazing at fellow shipping people as
we bring them in but they refuse to help us find any new people to teach.There are a few people in the branch that do
really well and are trying their hardest to help us so that is great.This zone is really picking up and the
district leaders are really changing and striving to help in any way possible.Elder Firth, our district leader has changed
SO much.It's been great to watch as he
opens up and gets excited about the work and about helping the district.We have one family who has recently started
coming back to church and is SO awesome!They are working with their neighbors across the street and invited us
and them to the circus as a fun activity to break the ice so that should be
fun.Their neighbors are a really nice
family and would fit right in the branch.We have been looking for opportunities to serve them and help in any way
they need so we mowed their lawn and gave them our number for anything else
they need.Things are going here just
wish it was a little faster! =)

As we strive for
excellence the battle is hard but once we are there and look back we can live
with no regrets and full of gratitude for what that journey taught us!